[AusNOG] Google creepier than Conroy?

[Bevan Slattery]

OK.  I'll wade in here.  I am actually very concerned that a forum for
supposed Network Operators experts isn't deeply concerned by the
developments of the Google Street View/War Drive initiative.

Regardless of where you sit with Sen Conroy and the current governments
RC plan on filtering, and regardless of whether you think the two are
linked, the fact is that it would appear some very serious breaches of
privacy legislation and the Telecommunications Act may have occurred.

The flagrant disregard for what it is alleged to have occurred is breath
taking.  Based upon reports (which are yet to be substantiated) there
has been a systematic and intentional approach to intercepting
telecommunications services and misappropriate data that was in the most
part meant to be a private transmission between the user and their home
DSL wireless gateway.

This user data which would include unencrypted user:pass information,
application information and plain text in communications, mac addresses,
IP addresses etc. has been captured for an assumed geo-coding exercise
to map this information to homes and or individuals.

As an industry participant, I am stunned by the level of apathy within
our industry over what has been alleged.  I am deeply concerned that ANY
organisation would conduct such a systemic abuse of peoples right to
privacy and let alone the laws of the country they are operating in
(with respect to interception).  Before I hear people come bleating
forward and explain to me that people should have encrypted their
networks, I say that most users failure to encrypt their home networks
is a direct result of a lack of education from the Government and our
industry.  These interception laws (and privacy laws) were designed to
protects users from exactly this type of activity.

If this were the Federal Government conducting this war drive and taking
user data, or perhaps another countries government (say China) taking
this data from Australia, or perhaps organised crime (Russian mob) I
wonder how the reaction would be?

This *is* very, very creepy.  This *is* very, very concerning.  To make
light of what appears to be possibly the single largest unlawful and
intentional interception (and possibly theft) of user data in the world
by an organisation deserves the greatest level of scrutiny and
investigation regardless of the organisation that is alleged to have
undertaken it.  Google needs to come clean and restore it's brand and
integrity as fast as possible.  Coming forward and saying it was a
'mistake' and we're going to delete the data is simply not going to cut
it.  There needs to be a full disclosure of what happened from soup to
nuts and only at that point can we have a meaningful conversation about
what really occurred, why it occurred and how to stop it from occurring
again.

On this one, Conroy is right.

[b]



> -----Original Message-----
> From: ausnog-bounces at lists.ausnog.net 
> [mailto:ausnog-bounces at lists.ausnog.net] On Behalf Of Matthew 
> Moyle-Croft
> Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2010 2:23 PM
> To: Andreux Fort
> Cc: ausnog at ausnog.net
> Subject: Re: [AusNOG] Google creepier than Conroy?
> 
> 
> On 26/05/2010, at 1:40 PM, Andreux Fort wrote:
> 
> > Australian Minister Calls Google 'Creepy'
> 
> Well, Google does have an army of virtual spiders that creep 
> around the intawebz indexing content.  
> 
> So, in some ways he's right.   However, the web that Conroy 
> wants to weave over the Australian internet makes me much more scared.
> 
> MMC
> (Who isn't afraid of spiders generally)
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